


The Wolf of the Ancient Willow

by ShadowArtemis4456



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cullen isn't sure of OC at first, F/M, Lavellan becomes OCs closest friend, OC cares for her friends she makes in the Inquisition, OC is a wolf who took human form, Teasing will happen but everyone is friends so its normal, animals can "talk" to other animals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-09 18:05:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17411657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowArtemis4456/pseuds/ShadowArtemis4456
Summary: The Commander looked up from the clipboard in his hands and saw sharp almost sky blue eyes studying him. "Who are you?" He inquired sharply as she met his eyes."My name is Willow," She replied calmly before turning to chase after the Herald.Willow is a wolf. Yep, you read that right. But she's a wolf who has willingly chosen to take on a human form. But after being caught in a poacher's trap she is helped by an elven man. After taking human form she is immediately taken to the man's "friends" all of whom suspect that there is something more about her then she's letting on.Out of all the Inner Circle, Commander Cullen is the most suspicious of Willow. Suspecting that Willow is possibly a blood mage, he decides to keep an eye on her from afar. But then the day comes where Willow reveals her true self, then Lavellan tells all the Inner Circle the truth. Willow is a wolf who willingly took human form. Now unsure of Willow's true intentions, Cullen decides to get close to the wolf while trying not to feel anything for her. But feelings are fickle and the ex-Templar is finding it hard to deny his feelings for the woman who is a wolf.





	1. Prologue

The wind was nippy as the sun slowly rose, but it didn't bother the canine-like creature who walked with another one towards their usual spot where they like to watch the two-legged beasts that called themselves humans as they bustled about.  Upon finally arriving at their destination, one of the two lay down with head on their paws and closed their eyes while the other sat and watched the humans run around like prey with their heads cut off.  _"Humans are so boring."_ said the wolf who had their eyes closed. 

The one watching only huffed with amusement,  _"I find them to be quiet fascinating. So interesting to watch them run around like they are some prey creature whose lost its head."_ That earned the one sitting down an eye to open and an ear flicked back. 

 _"I've never understood the fascination you have with their kind."_ The one laying lifted their head up to look at the one sitting and watching the humans. Neither moved their mouths as they spoke, yet they were somehow talking to each other as two people would speak with each other.  _"Sister, I do believe you are drooling."_

 _"Who is that human?"_ The one sitting, revealed to be a female, inquired as the one laying stood and came over to see what she was looking at and upon seeing whomever it was she was looking at the creature folded their ears back. 

_"That human looks so stupid."_

_"Brother!"_ The sister snarled as she bit his ear causing him to yelp and tuck his tail.

 _"It's the truth!"_ He whimpered as he sat to rub his ear as best as he could. But then a howl sounded and sighed.  _"Dad's calling."_

_"Why does he always call when we just start watching the humans?"_

_"He's our father."_ Her brother said as he stood and started heading towards where the howl had come from.  _"You coming?"_

_"I'll be there in a moment."_

_"You and your strange fascination with these humans. It's going to get you into trouble one of these days,"_ Her brother huffed as he walked away. What he had not seen was that the minute the howl had sounded, the man who had captured his sister's attention was now looking up towards the area where she now stood and had locked eyes with her. She knew what that man was seeing and inwardly it made her squirm with joy. 

The man watching her was seeing a large black wolf with blue eyes which weren't unusual, but nor was it common among wolves that he knew of. Suddenly he was distracted by someone calling out to him and he turned to take whatever it was the person presented but when he looked back up towards where the wolf had been, she was gone. Shaking his head the man went straight to work, yet for the life of him, he could not get the image of the wolf standing there watching him out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

****

The black she-wolf ran through the forest the next day heading towards the human den but would make sure to take a detour so as not to get spotted by them. The time for her to leave her Parents pack had finally come. Part of her knew that she should have left a year ago, but she had stayed to help with the pups and gleen any more information that her grandmother, a black she-wolf with blue eyes like her, could give and remember the words the elder had told her.  _"Go, my granddaughter, out into the world and fear no human, fear no pointed ears, nor fear the short ones. FOr though many generations have come and gone, their hearts remember their ancient pact with our ancestor the Great Black Wolf. For if it were not for her, they would not have the relationship with the Tame Ones that they do.  Do not fear the Tame Ones either_ _for they will never attack you for the reason of your fur and eyes alone."_

As the she-wolf ran she ran over the snow and only stopped to study the humans below her as she stopped at the cliff to check and see if the human was still there and was pleased to see him looking up towards her area and inwardly smiled as their eyes locked once more.  _This may be the last time I look upon you as I am. For when we next possibly met. I will be old and grey and you will still be the same._ She didn't need to speak those words, they just seemingly knew it without needing to speak. However, fate seemed to be a fickle mistress and as she turned and left that area with him watching, she could not know that not half an hour later as she was running around the area to avoid human contact, a snap would be heard and she would hit the ground with a yelp. Standing, she looked back towards her right back paw and saw something holding it fast. Growing she attempted to pry it apart with her fangs only to see that it would not release her. Snarling with hackles raised she attacked it again and again to no avail and soon sat down while panting. Deciding that the best way to free herself was to wait and hope that someone with a kind heart would come by and so laid down and fell to sleep until the sound of crunching snow caused her to raise her head to see someone approaching. The person was shorter than a human male and had pointed ears, yet as she watched him, he seemed almost skittish upon seeing her until he saw her eyes watching him; at first he spoke but she didn't understand him until he frowned and spoke softly in a bit more of a familiar tongue, one that she could understand despite them being two different creatures: Body language. Motioning that he was going to free her, she allowed him to draw close and watched as he opened the trap despite looking so weak and she swiftly leapt up and moved away from the trap which he allowed to snap shut. He gave a hurt sound and she watched as he looked to the palm of his hand and frowned; flicking one of her ears back she moved towards him and nudged his non-injured hand, capturing his attention before sniffing at his wounded hand and then licked at it while he watched. Understanding then that she was worried about his injury he smiled and spoke softly so as not to startle her. 

"I will be alright," He told her as she lifted her head to meet his eyes. Slowly reaching out a hand, he watched as she flinched away before realizing that he just wanted to feel her fur and soon rested her cheek against his only exposed hand. She watched his face for a reaction and watched as his already wide eyes widened a bit more as he slowly began to pet her. "You are no heartless beast like my Keeper led me to believe. You are just like anyone else." He whispered as he continued to share this moment with her, a moment she was allowing him to have. Then an idea struck him, "I heard stories once, about a black wolf with blue eyes, a wolf that looked like you, who could take the form of a beautiful maiden. But I think that was just a story..." He continued to pet her for a few moments more before pulling away. "Creators you are beautiful though." He said softly as she watched him stand slowly. "I wish I could bring you to Haven..." He sighed before walking away, but not five steps away from her he paused in his tracks as a voice echoed over to him. 

"Maybe you can."

Turning he saw that where the black wolf had once stood now stood a young woman, who looked to be in her twenties. She wore an all-black outfit from her boots to her shirt, her hair was a natural (and healthy looking) blue-black that was allowed to frame her face and he gasped. "Are you...?"

She told him softly without moving what she was, "Yes I am the wolf that was just here a moment ago. I still am that wolf, I just took a human form." She explained as he watched her carefully. 

"So the stories are true?"

"If you mean the ones you were talking about, with the wolf who could take the form of a maiden, then yes." She told him as he walked back over to her and reached out to touch her. 

"You feel human..." He muttered as she smiled. "And you look it, but what about?" He glanced towards their feet and she moved a foot to reveal a boot print. "How interesting..." He looked into her sapphire eyes once more and smiled briefly before frowning. "Are you sure you want to come with me? Don't you have a pack?"

"Not anymore." 

"Oh..." He trailed off and she smiled with a slightly huffed out laugh. 

"I left for reasons. All of them are still alive, but it was my time to leave them."

"I see," the man frowned. "My name is Fenar Lavellan."

"I am called Willow."

"Well, Willow, come with me to Haven and I will introduce you to everyone. But...I would suggest you stay close to me."

"Why?" 

"Most of them are suspicious of anything out of the normal," Fenar shrugged. "Humans are a strange lot. Stay around me and before long they will warm up to you." With that, she followed him to the human den called Haven, where she was soon introduced to everyone.


	2. One

The town was fascinating to Willow, the people even more so. But it was only the people who Fenar introduced her to in his "Inner Circle" who fascinated her the most. Each one reminded her of her old pack in some way, be it their personalities or some other way. The one named Solas, an elven apostate (as Fenar explained) who was fascinated with her in turn, reminded her of her father. The one named Varric, a short one (or a dwarf as Fenar explained when they moved away from Varric), reminded her of her goofy uncle. Then there were the two women named Leliana and Josephine, both of whom reminded Willow of her aunts. Then there was a woman named Cassandra who looked Willow over and greeted her with a slightly bored expression (reminding Willow of her father's second). But then Fenar introduced her to his Commander and Willow hid the expression that would have revealed her recognition of the man. "Commander, look up and introduce yourself!" Fenar spoke as the man looked up and into Willow's eyes. 

The moment he looked up he saw sky-blue eyes studying him and suddenly felt his heart stop. He recognized her eyes, or at least he thought he did, "I am Commander Cullen."

"I am Willow," She told him softly before Fenar spoke and started walking away with her giving chase, and the whole while, Cullen watched her retreat as he stood there dumbfounded. 

 _Her eyes...they look...familiar..._ He watched her vanish and then shook his head before returning to his work. But the next day he found himself in the war room listening as the others bickered about Willow's eye color. 

"They were Sky blue when I saw her," Cassandra snipped towards Leliana who huffed.

"They are sapphire-blue." 

"They're both!" Fenar barked out as everyone turned to him. "They are that rare blue that changes from sky-blue to dark sapphire blue depending on how much light is around her."

"How do you know?" Cassandra inquired as Fenar looked towards her.

"My sister has the same color of blue eyes," Fenar smiled as he thought of his sister. 

Cullen spoke up then, "I've seen that color of blue before as well. It's actually really...." He didn't want to say the word "pretty", so he opted for another word instead. "...well its a beautiful color for a woman to have." He felt a minor blush starting as Fenar raised a brow. 

"Why, Commander," Josephine, who had been silent up until this point, smirked now. 

"It sounds like you are developing a crush on dear Willow," Leliana smirked now as she teased the man who huffed his irritation at the two women but it didn't work the way he was hoping with his cheeks being tinted a slight pink.

"We do have business to attend to," Cullen huffed as they decided to finally get to work and for the moment, Willow was forgotten about. Yet something about her nagged at him and just refused to leave him alone even as he returned to his duties, which didn't last very long as today was the day he was talking a few soldiers (as well as Fenar who was bringing Willow) with him so they could go hunting. Looking at his desk, Cullen sighed before heading to the meeting spot where Fenar and Willow were already talking and Cullen listened to Willow's words as she asked something of Fenar. 

"...But...why?"

"I've always found it to be a good method, though albeit a dangerous one."

"Do none of you really know that you don't have to have those metal...traps..." she sounded confused on the word, "To get the prey?"

"Well...Not all of the humans or even the dwarves are naturally excellent hunters like you or I are." 

"I still don't understand the point in it. I could _SHOW_ them ten different ways to hunt and capture prey that doesn't involve those contraptions that could harm or trap the unintended creature." Willow sighed as Fenar shrugged. 

"These are the Shem we are talking about Willow," Fenar smiled sadly towards Willow. "They're not the brightest." 

Cullen wondered why Fenar was speaking to Willow as if she wasn't a human and it confused him until he remembered what Fenar had said about her.  _He said he found her walking around in the forest. But the only things out there are wolves and other creatures. If there was a woman out there, SOMEONE would have reported her wandering around and I would have gone to investigate it... Unless..._ Suddenly Cullen began to wonder who Willow really was but those thoughts were moved to the back of his mind as the selected soldiers came and met everyone for the hunt.

****

Willow was close on Fenar's heels, the prospect of a hunt had always excited her. It was a natural thing for Wolves to partake in once they were of age to join the pack on the hunts. Willow, however, had a special talent even among wolves. She was a natural born tracker with a nose and eyes sharper than any other wolf, which was an extremely rare and almost worshipped trait among wolves. But as they walked through the undergrowth Fenar stopped and nodded to her, allowing her to take the lead the moment tracks were spotted. Studying the tracks, Willow spotted another pair of tracks that belonged to no wolf and frowned. "What's a Lion doing out this far?" She inquired as Fenar studded the footprints she pointed out.

"I don't know..." He hummed before turning to Cullen, "Commander?"

"Yes?" Cullen walked up and looked to where Fenar was pointing. 

"Have there been reports of a Red Lion having been spotted around here?"

Cullen studied the tracks carefully, "A few. But they all say that it hasn't been doing much." 

"Well, that's a batch a horse shit if I've ever heard," Willow huffed as both men looked to her. "Red Lions don't ever leave their territory unless they really want something or have started to kill humans." Eyeing the prints closer, Willow growled low. "This one is male and from the way he's walking... he's going to be quiet aggressive." She told them as she studied the prints. "Call off the hunt for a couple of hours. Until that Lion is dealt with there won't be anything to hunt anytime soon." Willow stood and looked at Fenar, “Unless you feel up to catching that lion off guard?” 

“Whose going to be the bait?” Before Willow could answer a scream sounded from the direction the tracks were heading and suddenly Willow and the two men were racing towards the sound with all the speed they could muster. Of course with Willow being a wolf she was naturally faster then the two men and soon they lost sight of her but when the two reached where the scream had come from one of the soldiers had been killed and following the blood trail they saw the creature known as a “red” lion facing off against Willow in her true form. Compared to the large cat, Willow was tiny, yet neither of the two were moving just yet, but to Cullen and Fenar it looked as if the two were speaking but just as long as the silence lasted, the sudden attack was just as quick to explode. Together the two men, along with the surviving soldier, watched as Willow and the cat went at it. Willow knew the only way to cause the cat to flee far away was to severely injure him but with as unnaturally fast as his kind was, that was proving immensely difficult. She managed to land her fangs on his right hip and dug her fangs in deeply causing the cat to roar in pain before he managed to make a swipe at her. Feeling his claws cut deep she released his hip to let out a loud resounding yelp and the cat soon pounced on her. As the cat’s jaws open and came flying down towards her, Willow manage to place an arm between the cats jaws and her throat. Forgetting for a moment that Cullen was there, Fenar shouted her name and Cullen looked to the young man who raced off in that moment. “ ** _WILLOW_**!” Fenar called out as he let an arrow loose before switching to his daggers as the cat released Willow and dodged the incoming arrow before turning and snarling at Fenar who lunged towards him. Dodging the elven man, the cat snarled and went to make a hasty retreat, only to feel Willow’s fangs around one of his back legs. Looking at the injured wolf, the cat snarled and swiped at her again, this time caused a sound that was between a yelp and something else to escape her. Turning towards Fenar it swiped out at him and cut him deeply, distracting the man for only a moment. After dueling it out, the cat, deciding that this was a losing battle, dared to flee from the area, but did not realize that the direction it was fleeing in would lead right to its death as Cullen’s sword came down upon it. 

“Bloody damned cat.” Cullen snarled as he pulled his sword free of the now dead creature and looked towards Fenar. “Are you alright Herald?” 

“I’ll be fine,” Fenar responded with a nod, “A healing potion should take care of the damage. He barely laid a claw on me but Willow...” He stopped then and swiftly turned in time to see the wolf collapse. “WILLOW!” He called out before rushing her way. “Shit!” Fenar snarled as he realized just how much damage the cat had done to her. Cullen rushed over at that word to see that Willow was bleeding out with her blood slowly beginning to pool around her. 

“Why hasn’t she changed back?” Cullen inquired as Fenar looked to him. 

“I’ll tell you all later. Right now we need Solas!” And as swiftly as one of the other soldiers arrived they were sent off to rush back with Solas, who used his magic to aid him in rushing to where they were. 

“Amazing! A wolf who can become a human woman at will!” His eyes sparkled but he immediately set to work on trying to heal the dying wolf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked up Red Lions and apparently their only appearance is in the Dragon Age Tabletop RPG. Does this make them canon? I don’t know but I’d like to think so. If anyone has any further proof that they are a canon animal in Thedas comment it below.


	3. Two

The world slowly came into her consciousness as Willow awoke from whatever slumber she had been in. Slowly opening her eyes, the area she was in came into focus and she managed to lift her head to look around. Looking around, Willow was confused as of to where she was at until a hand gently placed itself between her shoulders causing her to look to her right and see the woman named Leliana slowly and cautiously petting her. It was a motion Willow did not expect from the Spymaster but the woman only gave a gentle response to her wonder, "I know you have no ill intentions towards us, you took on a Red Lion to save one of the Commander's soldiers as best as you could. You're safe when around me. Besides I like wolves," She told Willow who lay her head back down and slowly fell back into sleep while the woman continued to pet her gently. Falling back into sleep, Willow wasn't sure how much time would pass, but one thing was for sure, as the days would pass, the bandages would come off and would be replaced, her front leg would be tended to with magic to ensure that it would heal fully and that she would have use of it again soon. But the wounds she had that were being slowly attended to by the Healers of Haven (Solas had gone off with Fenar to search for a woman called Mother Giselle from what Willow remembered Leliana having told her) would become scars, something she was okay with as scars were just signs of having lived when something had tried to kill her. About roughly two weeks later, Willow would be in that state of sleep that was called dozing, when the Commander came walking into Leliana's area to speak with the woman. She felt his gaze fall on her, but for the most part, ignored him and Leliana due to the fact that one of the ravens was trying really really hard to annoy Willow. Both the Spymaster and the Commander heard Willow growl low in warning towards the bird and now were watching with interest to see what she would do as it started to peck at her. Willow growled again, but apparently, the bird had decided that it was fun to annoy the wolf who suddenly retaliated by snapping her jaws over the head of the bird, startling it and causing it to fly to its usual perch with ruffled feathers while it cursed at her in its own way. Willow growled something in response before laying her head back down and falling back into her dozing as Leliana struggled to not laugh at what she had been witness to while Cullen shook his head. He knew the sound of a warning growl well, had heard it on occasion when he was a boy playing with his parent's dogs. The "warning growl" was a way for a canine to tell someone that they had had enough and that it was time to leave them alone. Suddenly thinking of children, Cullen wondered how Willow would be around the little ones here in Haven and would get his answer about a week later upon Fenar's return after Solas tended to the wolf to ensure that she was fully healed up. "Herald," Cullen greeted Fenar who seemed to be absorbed in watching something or someone.

"Watch," Fenar pointed to where Cullen saw Willow bounding around playing with the orphans and other children in Haven. "She's being extremely gentle with them. When she tires of playing chase, she will lay down, like now," Both men watched as Willow lay down panting, "and allow the younger children to crawl all over her while the older ones pet her and love on her." Cullen watched with amazement and amusement, then he watched one of the younger children attempt to give her a kiss which she happily returned earning an excited squeal from the child who giggled and giggled at having been "kissed" by the "Inquisition's Wolf". Cullen and Fenar heard a few of the Orlesian parents freaking out but those born of Ferelden just didn't seem to care one bit that a wild animal was playing with their children. Especially not the Soldier who Willow had managed to "save" and who Cullen noted was standing and watching) as his little girl was kissing the wolf who was giving the kisses right back. Word had quickly been spreading throughout Haven of how this Wolf had attempted to take on a Red Lion by herself just to save the soldier and now whenever anyone saw the wolf, everyone (except for the majority of the visiting Orlesian nobles) greeted her. But if anything, Cullen figured that these nobles who were protesting now would likely come around upon seeing how quickly their energetic children would be passed out come bedtime. One of the children, who was giggling endlessly, sat upon the wolf's back and starting grabbing fist fulls of  Willow's fur, yet Willow didn't seem to care. "Did you know, there are tales among the Dalish involving stories of wolves who would fight alongside the "Emerald Knights"?" Fenar spoke as Cullen looked to him. 

"I did not," Cullen admitted as Fenar glanced towards him.

"In each of the legends it is stated that before the rise of Fen'Harel, wolves were worshipped and held as Sacred Creatures. An Emerald Knight would be paired with a wolf when it was just a pup, and together Wolf and Knight would spend their lives. They would eat together, hunt together, and a whole bunch of other things. But it is also stated that as the Emerald Knights slept, their wolven counterparts would take the role of Guardian and guard their chosen companion while the Knight slept. It is said that the bond between the Emerald Knight and his or her wolf was unshakeable. If the wolf died protecting his or her Knight, that Knight would mourn the loss of the wolf and would likely never take another. If the Knight died, the wolf would mourn themselves to death." fenar told the man who frowned at him before turning back to watch Willow as she continued to play with the children. "But there is one specific legend that I remember because it describes a black she-wolf with blue eyes."

"There's a legend about a wolf who looked like Willow?" Cullen's attention was fully on Fenar now. 

"It was said in the legend that a young she-wolf, whose coat was as black as a starless night and eyes as blue as the sky, is responsible for the partnership between the Emerald Knights and the wolven clans. In the days leading up to when wolves and Emerald Knights fought side by side, wolves were seen as heartless killing beasts with no sense of anything. But one day a black she-wolf with blue eyes was following a group of Emerald Knights from a distance, having taken a fancy to one of them. Many times she was chased off, but she would always follow them until one night she wasn't anywhere to be found. Figuring her to finally be gone, they made camp and selected the young Knight whom she had taken her fancy to keep first watch. What they did not realize was that she was still following them, but she had gone off to hunt. Upon her arrival to continue watching over them, the she-wolf spotted something else approaching their encampment. Giving out several warning "barks" the young knight spotted her and watched as she tried to signal that danger was approaching. Not understanding what she wanted, the young Knight prepared to drive her away, but just as he took a step towards her, she let out a howl that startled the other Knights awake and lunged towards the young Knight just as a roar sounded. Watching as the she-wolf threw herself between the bear that had appeared from the shadows and the young Knight, the Knight realized that she had spotted the danger and had been trying to warn him of it...” Fenar told Cullen more then sighed. “...Much later the she-wolf revealed a secret. She could take the form of a beautiful maiden.” 

“Just like Willow...” 

“Just like Willow,” Fenar nodded as the watchedthe children slowly leave the black wolf alone who then proceeded to find a spot to lay down in and curled up to sleep. 

“Why hasn’t she returned to human form?” 

“She may not feel like it yet, or Solas has told her not to,” Fenar shook his head. “It’s hard to say. Willow will return to it when she’s ready to.” With that the two men parted ways but Cullen looked back in the direction Willow was laying in to see her lift her head, look at him with a bored expression, yawn (revealing all her sharp teeth), then curl back up with a huff as if she was not entertained by Cullen watching her. Which he wasn’t sure if he should have been offended by or not. Shaking his head he returned to the training grounds where he could continue to train the troops.


End file.
